In Honor
by Sleeping Stardust
Summary: Maybe their families, and their blood and the house they belonged to were just minor things, she thought. Maybe the things that united them were stronger that any of the ones that seemed to divide them.
1. The Prologue One

**_Hello again everybody! So, as you might have noticed already, I have decided to delete my old story, also named In Honor, and rewritte it completely, hopefuly with regular updates that allow me to finish it._**

 ** _As always, I do not own Harry Potter or his world. Everything belongs to J.K Rowling and the franchise. (I do own, however, all my OC's, so hopefully you'll like them)._**

 ** _Reviews letting me know about any gramar, spelling or language ingeneral will be realy appreciated._**

 ** _Hope you enjoy this!_**

* * *

 _(The fight)_

If anyone had ever been born to command respect, Rose Weasley thought, that person was Minerva McGonagall. She possessed all the skills that seem to always accompany a good teacher: the prim look of indisputable authority, the obvious intelligence, and the rare ability of making teenagers listen to her without even having to raise her voice.

Yes, Minerva McGonagall was born for people to respect her, therefore it was no estrange that as soon as she stepped through the doors every one in the crowded infirmary, who had been shouting and arguing and intensifying Rose's headache up until that moment, went quiet at once.

"What?" the older witch began, lips so firmly pressed together they were barely visible "Is the meaning of this?".

Nobody breathed for a second, and then, suddenly, several people starting shouting again, clearly blaming somebody else and wanting to be heard above the rest. Rose caught words like 'bloody Gryffindors' and even 'death eater spawn', they made her wince and her split lower lip started to bleed again.

"Silence" McGonagallall but barked "Miss Hathaway, if you may explain".

Liz Hathaway was the Head Girl, and the last person Rose would have expected to be involved in a fight (she was way too nice and patient for that). But to her surprise, she was standing by one of the beds closer to the door, with a nasty looking bruise growing on her face.

"I'm...I am sorry, Headmistress" Liz said, looking to her feet "I am not sure what happened".

"I see" McGonagall said calmly, but her eyes narrowed even more, if possible, as she looked at the Head Boy "Mister Wood?".

Liam Wood shook his head, pressing what Rose guessed to be a wet clothe against his bleeding nose.

"Am I to believe" McGonagall continued "that nobody knows how a fight that has ended up with dozens of injuries, and a part of the grounds blown up, started?".

"It was the Slytherins" someone back at the end of the room claimed, and a lot of other people agreed quickly.

"It was not!" a Slytherin girl Rose recognized from class exclaimed angrily "It was Jordan who called Sabrina 'Death Eater spawn' in the first place".

"You insulted his family first!" Rose's best friend and Liam's sister, Amy Wood, answered from her spot next to her unconscious boyfriend, who was no other than Jake Jordan "And every Hufflepuff, for that matter".

"Shut up, Amy" Amy's Hufflepuff cousin, Andy Bell, replied to Rose astonishment "We don't need Gryffindors to fight our battles, ".

"Yes, shut up Wood" the Slytherin girl replied, knotting her blonde hair in a ponytail with such force it was a mystery how none of it fell off. "You were the one who said they should have killed every Death Eater whole family after the war".

"After your friend Greengrass here said that DA members were only good for dying during the war" Elliot Davis, a Ravenclaw who had been Rose's potions partner the year before, snapped back.

"SILENCE" McGonagall suddenly bellowed, and the room went so silent Rose could swear people were not even breathing.

McGonagall's lips were trembling with fury. "Never, in all my years at Hogwarts had I been so embarrassed as I am today. Death Eater spawn and good for dying..."

She spoke slowly, like the simple pronunciation of the words was too much to ask. For Rose, however, were common sentences anyone could hear almost everyday directed to whoever they disliked.

"Apparently" McGonagall continued "You do not know that twenty-four years ago your families ended a war that had last for too long. A war to prevent anyone, no matter how powerful, how gifted, from believing himself better than the rest of us. A war in which _hundreds_ of lives, of marvelous lives, were lost fighting for equality, and respect, no matter the family name, or the house, or their _blood"._

Everything stayed silent, even when McGonagall went silent for a few moments. Rose could feel a wave of shame hit her like a rock, even though she had had nothing to do with today's fight. Maybe it was just the way the Headmistress was looking at them all.

"You are Seventh Years" she continued at last, and Rose realized for the first time she was right. Almost everyone in the infirmary was in her year, and the ones who weren't, like her little brother Hugo, seemed to have ended up there as a collateral damage (Hugo had tried to step between Rose and a nasty jinx, and he had ended up with both legs glued together).

"And the fight, in which you hurt dozens of people may I add, was all about prejudices you all have created, or have adopted from the past. And the worst part is that you are about to enter the real world, and you do not even realize where those prejudices against family names and houses can lead you. But I assure you it's not pretty, and it's not worth it. I believed this was common knowledge, but apparently, I was mistaken".

Someone coughed quietly at the back, and a few people moved around uncomfortable.

Rose herself fidgeted nervously in her sit. She had never, ever, argued with anybody about their house or family, and of course she had never brought it up during an argument either. But still, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. Because she had never done anything to stop it, either.

She had stood quietly countless times, as she heard people using family's past during the War as a form of insult. Death Eaters. Cowards. Murderers. Lunatics.

 _Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie._

The sudden memory of her father's words took her by surprise. And she knew, really, that they had had more to do with and old school rivalry than with any prejudice, but still, it was not right. Scorpius Malfoy, who as far as Rose knew was a very decent person, didn't deserve people to even joke about what his father or grandfather had done. He was... staring right back at her.

Rose jumped, startled at the realization. She hadn't even noticed she had been staring at him up until that moment when his eyes met hers.

He raised and eyebrow towards his white blonde hair, and his lips curled sightly upwards. Like he was surprised, but in the best kind of way

Rose could feel her cheeks flushing furiously (her freckled skin had the ability of becoming absolutely scarlet in matter of seconds, a trait she had definitely inherited from the Weasleys) and she looked away quickly, using her hair to hide her face from him.

What in Merlin's name had just happened?

Before she got any time to think about it, though, Professor McGonagall continued as if she had not heard any of the soft whispers that were spreading across the room.

"Therefore, as you had clearly not learned the most valuable lesson the professors and myself can teach you during this last six years" she said "I have decided you are going to learn it. But not from us".

"Um, Professor?" Liam Wood said after a minute of silence "I'm sorry but what...What does that mean?".

Professor McGonagall didn't explain any further. And the answer to Liam Wood's question took almost twenty-four hours to arrive, in the form of a letter.

.

 _(The letter)_

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

HEADMISTRESS: Minerva McGonagall

(Order of Merlin, First Class. Phoenix Cross)

 _Dear Miss Weasley,_

 _In the light of the most recent events, the faculty of Hogwarts, along with Headmistress McGonagall, have decided to take what we believe to be necessary measures to assure it never happens again._

 _Therefore, every Seventh Year must hand a written essay about The War. Said essay will not be focused on the facts, or dates or concrete battles, but on the people who were affected by them. No matter what they did or if they did nothing at all. The composition must be based on at least eight conversations that you must maintain about the theme. Note that you can choose to ask about their life afterwards or before, and how it was changed by any of both wars._

 _We have also come to the agreement that, in order for the lesson we want you to learn to be completely understood, you will work in groups of four. Each member of the group will belong to a house and each group will present a single essay with everyone's participation._

 _Your group of work information is enclosed to this letter._

 _This assignment is mandatory, as anyone who has not handed his or hers essay by the first day of N.E. exams will not be allowed to graduate._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Aurora Sinistra._

Deputy Headmistress.

MISS ROSE N. WEASLEY: group of work number 4:

Goldstein, Julianne K. (Ravenclaw).

Hathaway, Elizabeth K. (Hufflepuff).

Nott, Lyra F. (Slytherin).

Weasley, Rose N. (Gryffindor).

.

.


	2. Quidditch, Family and Plants

**Thank you everyone who read, reviewed or visited! Here's a girls-introducing chapter. Let me know what you think.**

 **As always, I do not own Harry Potter or his world. Everything belongs to J.K Rowling and the franchise. (I do own, however, all my OC's, so hopefully you'll like them).**

 **Reviews letting me know about any gramar, spelling or language ingeneral will be realy appreciated.**

 **Hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

 _(Quidditch obsessed)_

"It's brilliant" Amy whispered to Rose during History of Magic.

Usually, she'll be trying to pay attention to whatever Binns was saying, as she had found out it was the only way she could stay awake during the whole lecture. But today's hot was too much, even for her, so Rose let her talk.

"When I didn't get a single person who plays Quidditch in my group, I thought it would be a disaster" Amy explained animatedly, pulling out the little book where she kept all her Quidditch strategies and smiling enthusiastically "But then you get Nott. And better yet, Al got Scorpius Malfoy on his work group".

All of Rose's worries about her project (which were not few) were nothing, really, compared to her cousin Al's. He had been paired up with a hufflepuff boy he didn't know and with one of Ravenclaw's Chasers, which was okay; and then, Scorpius Malfoy from Slytherin, which was not.

Al didn't have a problem with Malfoy, he had assured Rose, he was a good Quidditch player and a good captain and that was enough to make him okay in Al's book. The problem, Rose understood, was the subject they would be working on. Pairing up a Potter and a Malfoy to talk about a war were his fathers, who had had a feud going on for years, had not only been in different sides, but had also developed an extrange system of debts with each other... Well, it didn't sound like the best idea.

"Rosie" Amy said in her ear "Are you listening to me?".

"Yes, Al got Malfoy in his group" Rose replied, conveniently forgetting about Nott. "And you are so excited about this because..."

"Rosie!" she exclaimed so loudly Jake Jordan, who was sitting at her other side, snapped out of his half-asleep state with a jump. Binns, as always, completely ignored the noise.

"Malfoy is Slytherin's captain" Amy continued, barely lowering her tone "And Al is gonna spend the whole year working with him".

"So what? Malfoy is gonna just spill his Quidditch secrets to him when they've been working alongside each other for long enough?"

Rose loved Amy to pieces, she had been her best friend since their first year. She was funny and smart and loyal; but unfortunately, she was also a bit obsessed with Quidditch. Rose liked the sport, honestly, but Amy was able to take it to a whole new level.

It was not her fault, really, Rosie knew it just was in her blood. Her dad was Oliver Wood, famous Quidditch player, and her mum's maiden name had been Katie Bell, quite famous herself. You couldn't grow up in a family like that without taking the sport seriously, even if it was just at a school level. (Amy's twin brother Liam was just the exception that confirmed the norm, as Rose had never even seen him on a broom since their first year).

When the Gryffindor Team Captain's badge had come with Al's Hogwart's letter that August, Rose had been really worried about Amy. Everyone knew she was as good as Al, if not better, but Rose understood why her cousin, who was calm and really good at making people listen to him, had been given the captaincy in the end. But she feared Amy, who loved the sport blindly, didn't understand. At the end, her best friend had simply demonstrated how good of a player she actually was when she had genuinely congratulated Al, and asked him to let her be the team's strategist right after.

So as a norm, Rose never worried when Amy started to babble about Quidditch like a mad woman, knowing she had just came up with a new strategy or move and that she'ld calm down as soon as she showed it to the team and Al approved. But this time she sounded a bit too much crazy.

"Of course he's not going to tell Al anything!" Amy sighed, completely oblivious to Rose's worried look "I didn't say that. What I said was that Al would be constantly close to him. And his playbook".

"Oh Merlin. You want Al to spy for you?" she could barely suppress a laugh at the idea "Have you lost your mind? Even telling white silly lies makes him go all red".

"It's not for me!" her friend replied offended "I'm sure he won't mind taking this one for the team".

"They are going to be talking about the war, Amy. Their parents have a whole history going on back then. If you want to spy on other teams, why don''t you do it?".

"I spied Slytherin's tryouts" she confessed "But Professor Longbottom caught me and now if I'm seen doing something of the sort again I'll be benched for an entire game":

"We are not getting information from our group members" Rose said in her best imitation of her mother's firm tone "That's just the opposite of what this project means to achieve".

"Fine" Amy sighed.

She went back to her business after that, and Rose decided to start a new parchment, trying to concentrate on what Binns was saying.

She wished Al was in this class, if Amy had been babbling her plans to him instead of Rose, he would have been able to take the idea out of her mind in a matter of seconds. Rose had the theory he had spent so much of her life stuck in the middle of stupid arguments and fights (he was the middle kid _and_ the middle cousin) he had naturally developed an ability to calm everyone he met down.

But Al had dropped History of Magic in Fith Year. Rose had only continued it because it was an easy Outstanding as long as you were able to read the whole text book. Besides, during the last semester Order of The Phoenix or Dumbeldor's Army original members would come to give the lectures instead of Binns, which she had figured would be worth suffering him for five months. As she heard him now, however, she seriously doubted herself.

 _"One rebellion, in 1613, took place in the vicinity of Elderway Village..."_

"Did you really saw the whole tryouts?" Rose whispered to Amy.

The other girl smiled evilly at her.

"The whole thing. Nott is good" she said, sounding far too pleased at the prospect, considering she was talking about her rival "And I mean really good. Malfoy has a strong team, but she's the only real challenge. Aggressive game. Fast".

"Really?".

Lyra Nott, Rose had recently (the day before) found out, was the Slytherin girl who had been so angrey in the infirmary after the fight. She was sitting at the back of the room, and her eyes kept dropping shut. Rose guessed her to be around five feet two, and in addition to being really slim, she had a round face and big blue eyes that conbined with her blonde curls made her look fifteen instead of seventeen.

"You just wait and see" Amy said, following Rose's gaze "Have you talked to her yet?"

"No" Rose said, frowning as soon as she thought about the essay.

"You should, though" Amy pointed out, with far much nonchalance for someone who, Rose was sure, hadn't even bothered to find out who her group partners were yet.

"I know" Rose sighed "Liz Hathaway talked with all of us. We agreed to meet in the library this Friday. After lunch. We'll see how that goes".

"Ah, the perks of having Head Girl in your group. She organizes everything. And you will be just fine".

"I just don't know how to approach any of them. I didn't even know who they were two days ago".

 _She was begging to realize for the first time she had spent almost seven years of her life sharing meals and classes and Hogsmeade trips with so many people she didn't know at all. It was ridiculous, she thought. Maybe it was time for her to do._

 _(Death Eater Spawn)_

Lyra kept staring at her list. As if by reading it enough times it would start to finally make sense.

 _Goldstein, Julianne K._

 _Lance, Elizabeth A._

 _Nott, Lyra F._

 _Weasley, Rose N._

Goldstein. Lance. Weasley. She didn't know any of them personally, but as everyone else, she did know what those surnames meant.

Liz Lance was a muggle-born, and probably the best witch in their year, paired with Rose Weasley, whose name was enough explanation, really. And she had no idea of who Julianne Goldstein was, but she knew there had been a Goldstein in the Dumbledore's Army during the War.

She was dreading Friday.

Was she really supposed to talk about the war with these people? To talk about her family while they listened? That would work great, she thought, they could talk about being heroes and good people, about fighting on and never loosing hope and love and family. And then she would just start talking about Death Eaters and worshiping a man without a soul.

Shit.

"Shit" she heard Scorpius mutter suddenly next to her.

"I know" Lyra sighed, pointing to his list, which he was reading again, just like her. "Have you talked to any of them yet?"

"Potter" Scorpius cringed."He was not that bad, actually. It's just... Potter and Malfoy working about the war. They must think it's hilarious".

Lyra shrugged, putting away her list. In any other circumstances, she would be a lot more comprehensive about Scorp's problems, but she wasn't in the mood today. She had it almost as bad as him with Weasley.

"What about you, Sab?" Scorpious spoke again, glancing briefly to make sure Madam Pince was not looking at them.

Sabrina Greengrass, who had been until then completely engrossed with her Potions book, looked up and smiled.

"Fine, I think" she replied "I've talked to the girls and they seem okay. I'm hoping to like them".

"I think you should be hoping for them to like you instead" Scorpius told her. To Lyra, he added "And we've got the hero's kids. Wonderful".

"Oh, stop being such a pessimist" Sabrina replied, rolling her dark eyes "You sound like a cranky ninety year old".

"You sound like you think this is a some kind of making-friends group" Scorpius snapped right back. "We are talking about the people who regularly call us Death Eater spawn here".

"Not all of them! Honestly, we'll be fine". Sabrina replied, but she looked a bit more pale than usual.

"I can't believe you two are related" Lyra decided to interrupt.

In all honestly, sometimes she did doubt it, despite knowing their mothers were sisters.

"Me neither" they said, turning their nose's up in the exact same way.

 _(Swearing)_

"Miss Goldstein, I do understand you're dealing with a Snargaluff and a Venomous Tentacula at once, but could you please refrain your mouth?"

"Sorry, Professor" Julie breathed out as she barely managed to doge a spiky vine.

Professor Longbottom usually pretended not to hear the muffled curses as he walked along the greenhouse, but he didn't like to hear any swearing out loud. Ever. Not even when your life was clearly in danger.

In her seven years at Hogwarts, Julie had found out most Ravenclaws preferred the hard-study type of subjects, like Runes of History of Magic. For example Julie's best friend, India Thomas, who had a brilliat mind for almost everything, was an absolute terror with plants. During their second year, she had actually managed to killl a mandrake, somehow. Julie never knew how she managed to pass her O.W.L, but India had never steped into the greenhouses ever since.

But Julie, for some reason, had always been better at hands-on and instinctive work. She exceeded at Potions and Charms and, of course, Herbology. So her and her love for plants were working alone instead of in a group. And the Venomous Tentacula was taking advantage of that.

That is, until Liz Hathaway and a Hufflepuff boy she vaguely recognized walked towards her.

"Hi" Liz said smiling tentatively "Need any help?".

Julie was about to tell her she could manage on her own, but right then the Snargaluff decided to shot her way a particularly spiky vine.

"Help would be great, actually" she admitted.

"Great. This." Liz said pointing to the boy, who was already taking her of Julie's Snargaluff "Is Jason".

"I'm Julie".

He offered her his hand, which was covered in something green. Julie limited herself to a smile.

"Most people call me Jase" he said.

He was nice looking, Julie decided, with dark hair and an easy smile.

So when Jason smiled brightly at her after finally filling a whole bottle of Snargaluff juice, Julie sent him her best smile.

They worked mostly in silence, which was comfortable. The only real conversation happened between Liz and Julie, when Jason was preparing the beverage for the Venomous Tentacula.

"Are you here because of the project?" Julie asked, when she had to stop cutting rots for a second "Beacuse I was hoping not having to think about it 'till Friday"

"It's not about the project" Liz replied "I was just trying to be nice, now that I know you. Sort of".

She had blushed pink, which contrasted in a funny way with her auburn hair, but she seemed genuine, and Julie smiled at her before going back to work.

For some reason, none of the plants attacked Liz at all. Which was conveniant because she cpuld approach them and help their group work faster, but still, extremly rare.

"It's been happening since First Year" Jason told her "Dangerous creatures just don't attack her. I think even they can feel she's way too nice".

None of them mentioned anything more about the project during the next hour.

"Well done, you three" Professor Longbottom told them when he stopped next to their table "You work really well together, I'm not surprised. I would let you leave but I've to hold you till the bell rings, you can wait in the classroom if you want".

They did want to.

The classroom was a small room, right next to greenhouse number 7, where they took notes sitting in proper desks before working with the real plants. They grabbed their things quickly, hurrying to try avoiding being hit by some vine most of their classmates were still fighting.

The classroom was full of Hufflepffs, of course, and Jason hurried up to take a sit next to a group of boys.

"Came on" Liz said, and Julie realized she was still at her side "Let's sit by the windows".

It sounded like a brilliant idea, until she saw who else was sting there. For a moment, Kulie cpnsidefed walking in the opposite direction and going to sit alone somewhere else, but Liz had been really nice by not leaving her alone when she so clearly could have gone sit with her fellow Hufflepuffs. So Julie followed her trying to smile.

"Goldstein" Thomas McMillan grumbled when he finally noticed her.

"McMillan" Julie replied, on perfect imitation of his cold tone.

"Hi Tom" Liz said, not sensing the tension, or maybe choosing to ignore it.

She picked up two chairs for them, and Julie ended up sitting between her and Jason, right in front of McMillan.

The McMillans had been a part of Julie's life for as long as she could remember. She had gotten being a Ravenclaw from her dad, but her mum was a Hufflepuff through and through. And so were both Ernie and Susan McMillan. Julie's and Tom's mums had been best friends since their Hogwarts years (together with Aunt Hanna, who happened to be Professor Longbottom's wife).

When their older sisters where born, there had been too many years between them both to become close friends when they were kids, seeing as by the time Julie's sister Annabel turned six, and was old enough to be fun to play with, Elise McMillan was already ten and had no interest in her whatsoever.

But Thomas and Julie had been born within a month of difference, so their mums had spent their childhoods forcing them together and trying to convince them they were meant to be best friends.

Which, let me tell you, they were not.

In fact, they could hardly endure each other's company. Family dinners usually ended with them shouting at each other, which lead to have their mums shouting at them, which lead to her fathers to hide for a while in the kitchen with the excuse of grabbing some whiskey. In Julie's defense, last time that happened McMillan had been the one who started it by jinxing her chair to move whenever Julie tried to sit on it.

Sometimes, Julie guessed, he could be alright. Like that one time, when we were ten and he had punched Griffin McLaggen because he had taken Julie's favorite book and dropped it on the mud before stepping on it. Of course, McLaggen had become one of Tom's best mates not even a year after that.

"Hey, Julie" Jason said, and she decided to stop glaring at McMillan to look at him "I've convinced Liz to come help Hagrid with some sick cups this afternoon. Wanna come? He's invited us for tea afterwards".

Julie had dropped Care of Magical Creatures after her fifth year. She had liked it enough, but she was too impatient to take good care of the most boring animals and hadn't agreed with Hagrid's opinion on what animals were harmless enpugh for fifteen years old to manage.

Still, she smiled at Jase "Sure. I'd love that"

(Maybe).

"Since when?" McMillan snorted. Fortunately, Jason had already turned around (after smiling at her) and didn't hear him.

Julie flipped her foot under the wooded leg of McMillan's chair and, in one expert move he had taught her himself, she flung it backwards.

The string of expletives that exploded from him as he hit the floor would had been enough to make Professor Longbottom have a stroke.

.

.


	3. Meetings

_**As always, I do not own Harry Potter or his world. Everything belongs to J Rowling and the franchise. (I do own, however, all my OC's, so hopefully you'll like them).**_

 _ **Reviews letting me know about any grammar, spelling or language in general will be really appreciated.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy this!**_

 _(We meet)_

When Lizzy was eight, she had made herself invisible for a whole school day. At the time, magic was still something that only existed in fantasy books and fairy tales, so she had assumed her fellow fourth graders were just pretending not to see her as a prank.

Years later, when she finally received her Hogwarts letter and was able to understand why she could do extraordinary things nobody else could, she had tried to perform the spell again a couple of times.

It was unfortunate, she though now, that she had never been able to do it again.

They were sitting together at the library, her and the three girls from the group, but none of them were talking and the silence was beginning to be too heavy. Liz knew they were expecting her to talk, because she was Head Girl and the one who had organized this get together, but she could feel the weight of their glances on her and it made her too nervous to speak. Hence, she wished for her ability to become invisible to come back to her by some miracle.

She missed Wood, who was always in charge of starting speech during prefects meetings. Liz was better at solving doubts and organizing schedules anyway.

"Okay" Rose Weasley spoke suddenly, clearing her throat. She was the Gryffindor after all. "We should... talk about this".

"Right" Lizzy said. "I was thinking we could write down a list, you know, of people each of us can talk to. Family and friends, that sort of thing. Just to know how many stories we might have for the essay".

"That sounds like a good idea" Julie replied, sending Liz a reassuring smile.

"We should..." Lyra Nott started, surprising Liz. She had barely mumbled a hello when she had arrived and had not made any noise ever since.

"We should make sure they are willing to talk about The War before putting them on the list" she finally said "I just... there are a lot of people who are not ready to talk about it yet, even now".

"She's right". Rose replied quickly.

The two girls flashed each other a hesitant smile. And somehow, all the tension in the room seemed to dissolve at once. Maybe, Liz realized, they had all been worrying about the two of them without even noticing, after all, Gryffindor and Slytherin was hard enough without adding the whole Wizard War.

"How about we meet again in two weeks then?"

"Okay" Julie nodded "Friday morning again?".

"As long as it doesn't interfere with Quidditch" Lyra said "Scorpius takes practice very seriously".

Liz, who had shared every Charms lesson with Scorpius Malfoy during six years, as well as prefect meetings for two, had the urge to point out he seemed to take everything very seriously. But she had a feeling Lyra would not appreciate the comment. It was not that he was could not show emotions, exactly, he was just controlled about it. All the time.

"Well okay" Julie said "We are all settled then, right?".

"Looks like it" Rose answered happily, picking up her bag.

"It was nice meeting you" Lyra added, surprising Liz once more.

"I guess I'll see you all in class".

"We, um, we actually have DADA together now" Rose said.

Liz grimaced at the thought. Defense had always been her worst subject, but it was necessary to become a Healer, so she was forced to continue it N.E.W.T level.

"That's right" she told Rose "We have enough time to make it to class if we go now".

Rose stood up.

 _(James's girl)_

One would have thought the biggest problem in her group of work for Rose was Lyra Nott, given the history of her families. But the truth was, walking alone with Lizzy Hathaway was making her feel by far more uncomfortable than any of her interactions with Lyra today had.

It was not that Rose didn't like Liz (everyone liked Liz). She was genuinely nice and really intelligent, and if it wasn't for her lack of freckles she could pass for a Weasley with her long auburn hair.

So, Rose could tell Lizzy Hathaway was pretty awesome. The thing was, so could James.

Of the two Potter boys, people usually expected James to be the one with a million girlfriends. Maybe because it was Al who looked more loke Uncle Harry, and was nicer about everything. James was famous, rich and handsome, and he had gotten himself a reputation for being a troublemaker at Hogwarts, where he had also been Quidditch Captain for two years.

It was funny, really. Because James had only ever been interested in one girl: Elizabeth Hathaway.

It had started at the beginning of Rose's and Liz's fifth year, James's sixth, when he had first noticed her, and decided he liked her. A lot. And as the following two hears passed, the Weasley-Potterfamily interest in Liz grew together with James's unsuccessful attempts to get her to agree on a date with him.

The first time he had heard the story, Uncle Harry had almost chocked on the butterbeer he was drinking. Looking up at James like he had seen a ghost. But it must have been a good one, because he had smiled a second latter. The saddest smile Rose had ever seen.

"It sounds like a great love story, son". He had finally said.

Liz, Rose suspected, had simply become used to James's extravaganzas with time. Becuse they had stopped to drive her crazy and she no longer tried to hex him into oblivion every time. Now, they were always bickering about everything, but she absolutely ignored the matter of his love for her with ease.

And the same thing had eventually happened with everyone else. The Weasleys talked about Liz now like she was part of the family, instead of the girl who barely endure James's company and had told him no every time he had asked her out. Some times even in a very colorful way.

"He won't give up" Freddie would said "He's found the ultimate nuisance, he can annoy the hell out of her and she's the one who looks like the bad guy when she says no".

"That's awful" Lily replied, scolding at James "What if she falls for you? You could break her heart with this stupid prank".

And James would just shrug it off, but Rose could see more. Something changed in him because of her.

It was definitely not a joke.

He was in love.

 _(Are you ready?)_

"You are slow" Scorpius said as soon as Lyra stopped at the door of Slytherin's locker rooms, Friday evening.

"And you're a tyrant" she panted, hands on her knees.

"I told you you'ld run six laps around the pitch if you did' catch the snitch twwice during training" he shrugged, passing her a bottle of water she dismissed flr fear of throwing up "You didn't catch the snich twice. You run".

"I didn't take you seriously!" Lyra answered, glaring at him and finally feeling strong enough to straighten .

"I've told you a million times" Scorpius insisted, following her as she grabbed her broom from the ground and opened the door of the locker rooms. "We have to get faster. We play Ravenclaw in a week".

"Faster on a broom, not running!" said Graham Zabini, Scorpius's youngest cousin, already out of his Quidditch gear and dressed in jeans and a shirt.

"You never said anything about running" confirmed Rob Higgs, the other beater.

"We are working on our endurance" Scorpius snapped, clearly annoyed with his whole team. "Toughing up".

"Fine. Can we leave now? I'm starving" Graham said.

"Just get out of here" Scorpius sighed, throwing his broom in the cupboard.

Before he was done closing the door with its key, everyone but Lyra and himself was out of there. And he waited until she had showered and changed into clean clothes in the girls' bathroom before talking.

"Your head wasn't in the game today" he said.

"I'm sorry".  
"Are you alright?"

"Yes". Lyra said, grabbing her bag and stepping through the door.

Scorpius followed her outside, and as usual they walked towards the Lake instead of going back to the castle. It was almost night by now, but the days were still long and Lyra intended to seize every second of sun left before winter.

She had grown up in France, on Niza's countryside, where it was never too cold and winters seemed to last half of what they did in Scotland. Her dad had run away there, after the war, only coming back once a year to the old Nott family house he had never had the nerve to sell, not even after Lyra's grandfather died in Azkaban five years later. But Lyra's mum was English too, and she eventually started to miss it too much, so they had moved back to England when Lyra was only six. She could barely remember anything about France, but she missed the sun a lot. Her body craved for the long summers she had not lived for nine years.

It was curious, she thought, how things you grow up with remain part of you in a way nothing else does.

"Scorp?" Lyra said when they sat on the grass by the Lake, like they did every day after Quidditch practice.

"Yeah?".

"I wasn't concentrating on the game today because of that stupid project about The War".

He was alert in a second, looking straight at her with an odd expression, half concern half fury, on his pale face.

"I though you said the girls were nice this morning".

"They were" Lyra quickly clarified "It's not about them".

"Okay" Scorpius said slowly, and then nothing else.

He was always good at letting people lash out. He was one of those extremely rare persons who just shut up and waiting until you were ready to say everything you needed to until you figured it out. He never pressured you to talk or judge you when you did. Lyra loved that about him.

"We have to make a list of people each of us can talk to" she started "And I just don't know if I'm ready for that".

"For...making a list?" Scorp said confused.

"I don't know if I am ready to talk about the war. With mum and dad and maybe your family" her voice trembled, and she swallowed hard before continuing "I don't know if I can take it".

"What do you mean?".

"I don't know if I am ready to know what they did".

He didn't say anything, and for a moment both of the stood there, frozen. She knew how he was feeling, hurt and angry and ashamed, followed by something he could never outrun, because it was part of him even before he was been. He felt like he was drowning.

Just like her.

Worse still, she suddenly realized they were not longer alone. Albus Potter had appeared on the verge of the forest, followed by a couple of red heads who were still a little to far away to identify, but that for sure belonged to two Weasleys.

He stared at them for a second, clearly too surprised to act. What a pitiful image they made, Lyra nodded slowly at her, and Lyra nodded back right as he turned around and left in the other direction, her misery locked in his brain.

 _._


	4. Potion making, jinx and dye

_**As always, I do not own Harry Potter or his world. Everything belongs to J Rowling and the franchise. (I do own, however, all my OC's, so hopefully you'll like them).**_

 _ **Reviews letting me know about any grammar, spelling or language in general will be really appreciated.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy this!**_

 _(Potion making)_

"Miss Weasley, nice of you to finally join us."

All heads, including Professor Vane's, turned to take a look at the redheaded girl hovering just inside the Potion's class's door. Rosie turned bright red under the stares.

"Sorry," she said, gripping her bag. "I was…held up. By an owl. An injured owl I mean"

A few guys at the back of the room snickered.

"There wasn't any blood, but it couldn't move, so…I took her to Hagrid".

Rose's classmates chuckled as her face blushed even more.

"Sorry, Professor" Rose finished lamely, stepping cautiously inside the classroom.

Professor Vane seemed even younger than Rose's parents, but she was strict during her classes and her stern expression made her look severe. Her students worked hard to avoid being at the end of one of her glares.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose could see Al trying (and failing) to conceal his chuckles. Rose tried to send him a nasty glare, but that only made him laugh more. So much for a best friend.

"Well, take a sit next to Mister Malfoy then" Professor Vane instructed impatiently pointing at an empty desk at the very front of the class.

Rose watched in horror as Scorpius Malfoy's blonde head snapped up to look at their teacher.

"Um, I was actually saving the seat for Troy, Professor" he said moving his book towards the end of the table, as if making sure no one else placed their things next to his.

"Ah, yes. Where, pray tell, is Mister Greengrass in this fine Monday morning?".

Rose could have sworn Malfoy's face turned a shade paler (which she could have never thought possible) as he shared a quick, panicked look with the two girls sitting on the table next to his. She only recognized the brunette one, Sabrina Greengrass -Slytherin prefect and Troy Higgs's twin sister- and wondered were was Lyra Nott, who usually sat close to her.

"He was feeling really sick" Scorpius answered, perhaps a bit too quickly.

"I see. Well, as he is not here himself, we can only assume he would not mind his new seat" Professor Vane stated, gently pushing Malfoy's book back to his half of the table "Miss Weasley, sit down now, please".

" _Do something"_ Rose mouthed to Al as she slowly made her way to the front of the classroom. But her cousin just looked helplessly at her and run a hand through his already horribly messy hair, which Rose recognized as a nervous gesture of his.

Well, thank you Al.

Rose made sure her Potions book was difficult to find inside her bag as she took her assigned seat, using her tangled hair to cover up her face. Once she was pretty sure she was not longer bright red, she took a deep breath and decisively turned around to look at her new partner.

She yelped when she came face to face with a pair of eyes already staring at her.

"Weasley" Scorpius Malfoy greeted politely, but there was something in his voice that told Rose he found her fright somehow funny.

"Hello" she replied quietly "I'm sorry about the seat".

He just shrugged, and Rose found herself squirming uncomfortably on her seat at his silence.

Scorpius Malfoy had the unique ability to make her feel extremely nervous. He always had. Through the seven years they had known each other, Rose could pretty much count the number of interactions between them using just one hand. Most of them had been trough Albus, who paired with him during Care of Magical Creatures, a class Rose didn't take since Fifth Year.

The rational-Granger part of Rose knew it was absolutely ridiculous to feel that way, it was not like he was menacing in any way. Sure, he was rally tall and all, but he was generally quiet and polite every time he had to address her, or anyone he didn't know that well.

But there was something about him that got under Rosie's skin, and she had always got the feeling she would make an absolutely fool of herself if she ever really needed to talk to him. She just knew. She would babble and blush and Merlin help her, this was the boy her father had warned her not o get "too friendly with" more than once. What was wrong with her?

"So um" Rose said, clearing her throat and staring at the table's surface like it was the most interesting thing ever "What potion are we brewing?".

" _Veritaserum"._ He replied "Shall we use my cauldron?".

Rose, who had completely forgotten hers (at Hagrid's, she hoped), nodded vigorously.

"Yes, of course" she grabbed her book once more and quickly searched for the Potions instructions "And we can use my book".

"Brilliant" Scorpius said, and to her surprise he smiled at her.

She smiled back so automatically it took her a moment to realize she had done it.

"We have to add a phoenix feather to the cold water". Rosie instructed. "And then we stir clockwise until it turns red" she looked up in time to see the feather spark as it hit the water, and Scorpius began to stir it patiently.

She wondered if it'ld take long for the red to appear. Moving a potion could be truly tiring "We can take turns" she told him.

"I've got it" he shrugged.

However, after a couple of minutes he stopped for a second to take off his jumper. For some reason, the action made Rose's face to heat up.

Good Godric. She was an idiot.

"Is Lyra okay?" she asked, concentrating on cutting the grindylow finger they needed next. It was quite gross.

"What? Oh, yeah. Her little sister had a problem" Scorpius said "I think you can add that finger now".

Rose did. She hadn't known Lyra Nott had a sister. For some reason, she imagined all pureblood Slytherins as only childs, which was highly ridiculous.

"Rose?" he said.

"Sorry" she napped out of it, shaking her head for good measure "Now we add unicorn hair and wait five minutes". She read. "Then we add cold water again".

"Done" he reported "Now we wait".

She turned on her chair to nod at him and he nodded back. His eyes, Rose noticed for the first time ever, where blue. She was so used to know how much he looked like his father she had always taken for granted he had inherited his gray eyes.

But he hadn't.

He was looking at her too, she realized. And he wondered what was he seen. Her mum's bushy hair (in red) and her dad's blue eyes? Grandma Molly's mouth? Granpa Arthur's nose? Did he see something else? Something that belonged only to her?

A loud bang echoed the room and Rose jumped, finally breaking eye contact with him. It looked like a cauldron two tables from them had exploded suddenly, causing a small fire and spilling its contents over a pretty Ravenclaw called India Thomas, who's dark skin began to turn red.

Professor Vane solved the commotion quickly, but Rose and Scorpius worked practically on silence the rest of the lesson. It was not uncomfortable, truth be told, when your family was as big and loud as Rosie's, you learned to appreciate the quiet quickly.

"Very well" Professor Vane said when they handed her the vial with their potion "Very well indeed. Now it has to mature for a full moon circle. And in about a month we'll if it is really as flawless as it appears to be" she smiled at them "Three drops of it, and you'ld spill your deepest thoughts and desires".

When the bell ringed, Rosie practically ran from the classroom,not even waiting for Al, (who was talking with Jake Jordan and didn't seem to notice anyway).

She didn't even now what she was running from.

 _(Jinx)_

Lyra absolutely hated the hospital wing. She was good at avoiding it herself, even as a little kid, she rarely got sick and when she did she was far too impatient to wait until she was fully recovered and she simply lived through whatever illness she was enduring.

So the infirmary meant for her that one of her sisters was hurt or sick, and they tended fo be either of those a lot.

This time, Professor Bulstrode, who was the Head of Slytherin, had informed Lyra that Lottie, who was a fourth year, had been involved in some kind of fight in the corridor and she had ended up jinxed.

"What were you thinking?" Lyra roared as soon as she saw her sister, who was sitting on one of the bedscloser to the door and didn't look badly hurt.

"I'm fine" Lottie said, wincing "It was just a jelly-leg jinx".

"Then why are you on the hospital wing?" Lyra demanded.

None of the Nott girls were really tall or corpulent, but while Lyra and her older sister, Ida, where at least sightly curvy and taller than five feet, Lottie had always been short and particularly skinny. So Lyra had no trouble accommodating on the bed, next to her.

"I hit my head when I fell" Lottie said, then she added quickly "but Madame Hannah says I am fine".

"Really" Lyra frowned.

"Well, she _is_ the one with the Healer training" Lottie scoffed.

"Indeed" said Madame Hannah walking through her office's door right then "Don't worry Miss Nott, your sister is perfectly fine. Mister Kalinsky, on the other hand..." she added nodding to the other occupied bed, where a boy layed apparently unconsciouss.

"I didn't mean to banish his hand's bones" Lottie mumbled in a low tone. But not low enough.

"You did what?" Lyra shriekedd.

"It was an accident!" Lottie protested, turning red "Accidental magic! I don't even know a spell for that! He jinxed me first and I got angry!"

"Let me get this straight" Lyra said, getting up "You accidentaly managed to banish that boy's hand's bones?".

Lottie looked down, an ashamed look on her face.

"You can fix him, can't you?"

"Of course I can" Madame Hannah assured before turning to Lottie "Miss Nott, you are ready to leave now. You can perfectly go to your next class".

Lottie practically jumped out of bed and run through the doors, pretending not to hear Lyra telling her to stop.

Lyra sighed and thanked Madame Hannah.

"She's a good kid" the older witch replied "And I don't doubt for a second Mister Kalinsky was the one pushing her until she napped. But I had to inform Professor Bulstrode anyway, she could have hurt him severely".

"I understand" Lyra nodded.

Madame hannah looked past her to the door as if dismissing her, and, relieved, she turned around.

And walked straight into Liam Wood.

He grunted and Lyra had the urge to laugh. Wood was tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular build. Lyra couldn't have hurt him even if she had tried.

"Sorry" she mumbled when he looked down at her.

"Mister Wood, may I help you with something?" Madame Hannah asked, and Wood ignored Lyra and looked at her.

"I was told there was a problem with a Gryffindor fourth year?" he asked in his deep, gravelly voice.

"Mister Kalinsky here" Madame Hannah confirmed "Will need skele-gro after a rather nasty incident with Miss Nott. But he will be fine".

"You jinxed a fourth year?" Wood asked incredulously, and it took Lyra a moment to realize he was talking to her.

"Of course not!" she exclaimed "My sister did".

He frowned down at her and Lyra greeted her teeth, wishing to be taller so she didn't need to tilt her head back to glare back at him.

"What is it to you, anyway?" she finally asked, when it became clear he was not planning on moving and let her through.

"I'm head boy" he replied.

Lyra rolled her eyes. Then looked up again to meet his gaze. There was something about him that made her want to hit him in the head with a blunt object..

"Well, good for you" she snapped, highly irritated by his patronizing tone.

"And Professor Longbottom has asked me to monitor detentions" He continued, ignoring her " So I come and solve problems like this".

"I'm sorry to tell you" Lyra pointed out "He needs to re-grow his bones, so I don't think you're qualified to solve this particular case"

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Now, if you'll excuse me" Lyra added, trying to push him back.

To her surprise, he obliged and moved out of the way.

"Hey, Nott. Is your sister also a Slytherin?"

"You're the Head boy" she replied as she opened the hospital wing doors "You find that one out".

 _(Dye)_

"Julie, hi".

Julie looked up from her Potions essay and found Jason smiling down at her.

She hadn't seen him since that afternoon they had helped Hagrid. That _he_ had helped Hagrid while Julie and Liz talked by his side, actually.

"Hello" she smiled brightly, trying to get the quill she had knotted her hair without him noticing.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Jase asked, already taking out the chair next to hers.

"Of course" she answered, and immediately wished for the earth to swallow her, as she realized how eager she had sounded.

If Jase noticed it, however, he did not comment on it. Instead, he sat down and got an Herbology book out of his bag.

"What are you working on?".

"Potions" Julie lied quickly.

She had done all her homework long ago, and just finished revising it. But she could always take a look at it again, she reasoned, and stay with Jase for a bit longer.

"Oh. I dumped Potions as soon as O. were done" Jase told her with a smile "I was terrible at them".

"Well, it is a difficult subject".

"Jase!" a voice cut it in that instant, much too loud for the library.

Julie flinched. _Let it not be him_ she though _For the love of Morgana let it not be him._ But of course, when she turned around no otjer that Tom McMillan was walking towards their table.

"Hey Jase" he repeated as he reached them, his tone lower this time "Are you with Herbolog..."

His question was cut short when he finally looked around and noticed Julie right next to him.

"Um. Do you two know each other?" the smile had slipped away of Jase's face, and he looked confused from Tom to Julie, like he was seeing a tennis match.

"Sadly" they both said at once.

"Oh" Jason exclaimed. A look of recognition of his face. He turned to Julie "Your surname is Goldstein?". Julie nodded, confused, and Jase shook his head as if he could not believe his eyes "You are the Julie Goldstein".

"Hate of my life" Thomas confirmed. He had apparently recpvered from his initial shock, because he walked over to the chair right in front of Julie's and sat down.

"What are you doing?" Julie exclaimed horrified.

"Relax, _Julianne"_ Julie hated it when people called her her full name "I just need to write down a couple of thing on my Herbology essay. And he happens ro have the book I need".

In any other circumstance, Julie would have probably explained to him on detail where, exactly, he cpuld shove his book. But Jase seemed quite happy to have McMillan sitting with them and she didn't want to cause a scene in the library. The last thing she needed was to be banned from one of her absolutely favorite places on the castle.

"So... you two go a long way back, uh?" Jase said after a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"All the way back to the womb" McMillan mumbled, not exactly happily.

"How about you?" Julie asked, suddenly curious "Are the two of you good friends?"

"You could say that" Tom said, shrugging "I mean we have shared a room for seven years".

"I'm not good friends with every girl of my dorm". Julie pointed out.

"That's because you're a..." McMillan started to say. But what ever he though Julie was was lost when Jason declared loudly.

"Well, none of us like Smith at all".

At the mention of his room mate, Tom made a disgusted face. Jase chuckled

"Here" he said, handing McMillan the Herbology book " All yours . I'm going to see if I'm able to get another useful one".

And with that, he disappeared between the shelves.

"Listen, I actually came to the library looking for you" Tom said as soon as his friend was out of earshot.

"What?".

"I wanted to ask you if I can talk woth your parents" he explained "About The War".

"Oh. Yes, of course, as long as I can talk to yours". Julie replied. "Do you think they'll tell us anything?".

"I don't know" He confessed "I think it's still hard for them".

Julie smiled sadly at him and he nodded back. And both of them returned to their paper silently.

"Can all Ravenclaws read upside down or it's just you?" Tom said suddenly.

"What?".

"Your essay" he said, pointing at it with his quill "Is upside down".

Julie groaned, and she could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Can you just finish whatever you're doing and leave" she said, while turning her essay around, angry with herself .

He didn't answer for a long time, simply observing her with curiosity.

"You like him, don't you?".

"Who? No. I barely know him!".

"So? You like what you've seen until now" he simplified "Whatever. It's weird".

"Shut up" Julie snapped.

"What..." he started to say, in a tone far too casually, like he was about to talk of the weather or the latest licorice flavor "If I told him about that time you tried to dye your hair?".

"You wouldn't" Julie gasped.

When Julie was ten, her sister Annabel had convinced her she would be much prettier as a blonde. As she knew her mum would never change her her hair color, she decided to try muggle dye. And she had managed to turn most of the hair she did't loose green.

McMillan laughed, trying not to make too much noise. It had been his mum the one who had been able to finally calm Julie enough to be able to fix her when it had happened, and of course Tom had been there to see it all. Luckily, his sister Elise had prevented him for taken any pictures, but the story was embarrasing enough on its own.

"Oh, you should have seen your face" he finally said, when he managed to stop laughing.

"You are an idiot" Julie mumbled, but she too was fighting down a smile.

He shrugged.

"What about the time I had to save you from a _ladybug?"_ she grinned.

"You promised to never tell" he had paled down at least two shades. "You set your father's office on fire".

"That was your fault!".

"It so wasn't" Tom laughed.

"You won't tell about the hair" Julie asked him "Will you?".

"Hair?" his expression was so utterly innocent she almost missed when he winked at her "What hair?".

Julie felt strangely sad, for some reason, when Jason finally returned to the table and Tom left them alone at last.

.


	5. Game, let's talk fate

_**As always, I do not own Harry Potter or his world. Everything belongs to J Rowling and the franchise. (I do own, however, all my OC's, so hopefully you'll like them).**_

 _ **Reviews letting me know about any grammar, spelling or language in general will be really appreciated.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy this!**_

 _(Game)_

"I'm going to be sick".

"No you're not" Scorpius argued for what it felt like the hundredth time, offering Lyra a toast.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust and he sighed, grabbing the pumpkin jam and having a bit of the toast himself.

"Finish your juice, at least" he said when he swallowed "Don't want you to pass out of a sugar low while up in the air".

"I" Lyra said slowly, glaring at him "Don't want to be up in the air".

"You are going to be great honey" Sabrina cut in "Now drink your juice and head to the pitch. You don't wanna be late to your first game".

Lyra tried her best, but the blueberry juice, which usually was her favorite, seemed to be made of gum and it didn't travel well down her throat.

"I hate you" she mumbled as soon as the Quidditch pitch came to sight.

Scorpius grunted in response. But the first time Lyra realized he seemed to be too occupied being almost as nervous as she was, it was his first game as Captain after all. What a pair, she thought, and she linked her arm with his, which was uncomfortable because he was holding his new broom but made him smile.

"We are going to do great" she said, putting as much confidence as she could master (which was not much)in her voice.

"I know" and with a deep breath, he threw open the door of Slytherin's locker room.

Lyra tried to force herself to concentrate on putting on her Quidditch gear right. It had belonged to some bulky Slytherin chaser before it was hers, and although the name had been changed and now read Nott in brand new silver letter, the green of the jersey was sightly faded and the sleeves were ridiculously long for her arms, even after the shrink charm she had produced. She wondered briefly, as she secured her arm padding, if she could get Rose Weasley to fix it, she was the best at Charms in their year.

Scorpius cleared his throat and the room went silent. Lyra couldn't help but notice putting on his uniform seemed to have helped him overcome his nervousness, because he looked as sure of himself as ever.

"Okay guys" he said "This is our moment. We are the best team Slytherin's had in years, and we've worked ourselves out for this. We can win the Quidditch Cup, hell, we _deserve_ the Quidditch Cup" he said forcefully, and Graham Zabini cheered loudly "This game is just the first step. So let's get out there and crush those Claws!"

This time, not only Zabini cheered, but the whole team did as they followed their captain out onto the field. Lyra was the last one to emerge, and the sun hit her like a blast as soon as she did, there was not a single cloud in sight and the wind blew nothing but a gentle breezes. She smiled for the first time that day. It was a perfect day for Quidditch, and it was all hers.

Coach Spinnet signaled for the captains to come to the center of the pitch and everyone else mounted their brooms. Lyra grabbed the handle as tightly as she could, taking deep breaths.

"Okay" she could hear Coah Spinnet saying to Scorpius and Ravenclaw's captain Corner "This is the first game of the season, and I want it to be a nice one. No one on the infirmary after this, are we clear?"

Scorpius and Corner shook hands. Lyra leaned forward. Coach Spinnet blew her silver whistle and fourteen feets hit the ground at once to lift their owner's brooms.

"Ravenclaw's got the Quaffle!" a happy voice announced to the crowd, and Lyra looked down to see Roxanne Weasley was commenting the match. "Thomas passes to Miller, who surisingly is actually able to catch... and no, Slytherin's chaser Greengrass has taken the Quaffle"

Lyra dived around one of the Ravenclaw chasers, who was trying to block her, while keeping an eye on her teammate, who was flying right towards her with two other 'Claws on his hills.

"Greengrass dodges a bludger, the Slytherin chaser hasn't been hit by one since his second year. Thomas is way too close... and no, Greengrass passes to the newest addition of his team".

To her surprise, Lyra caught the Quaffle in her hands in one neat motion. And even more surprisingly, she didn't freeze, but felt her body moving on its own accord to lead the broom. It was almost automatic, she thought delighted.

"Nott's got the Quaffle, let's see now what the new girl can do. Nice dive around a speeding bludger, she's got Ravenclaw Miller right behind her, but she's never been really fast..."

"WEASLEY!"

"Sorry, Professor Longbottom" but she didn't sound sorry at all, everybody knew Tracy Miller had dated Roxanne's older brother, Freddy, briefly last year, and that she had cheated on him.

Anyway, Roxanne was right, Miller was not as fast as Lyra and she quickly could leave her behind. Put of the corner of her eye, she could see Scorpious expertly dodging a bludger and getting close to the Ravenclaw goals. He wanted her to pass. So she did.

"Nott to Malfoy... and it's a good pass!" Roxanne Weasley informed, and Lura breathed out in relief "Off he goes, the Slytherin captain has always been a natural flier... 'Claw's Keeper Clearwater misses... Slytherin has scored!".

Lyra felt the ridiculous urge to laugh when the green and silver benches erupted in cheers and whistles.

"Nice one!" Zabini told her as he sprinted by her side, beat ready to hit a bludger coming jis way viciously towards the Ravenclaw captain.

"Thomas with the Quaffle again, passes to the captain instead of Miller, good choice..."

"WEASLEY"t

"Right, sorry. Anyway, Belby with the Quaffle, straight to the posts... WOW. He takes a bludger to her right side, that's gotta hurt...Thomas saves the Quaffle! Now this girl can fly, passes to Miller, intercdpted by Malfoy. Malfoy to Greengrass, Greengrass to Nott... and Nott to Greengrass again. He aims... and Clearwater stops the Quaffle. Miller in possession".

Lyra greeted her teeth, trying to catch up with the Ravenclaw girl while Scorpius stayed behind and Troy flew ahead. It was a nice play they had been rehearsing the whole week. Suddenly, she could see something black moving towards her out of the corner of her eye. The bludger, because it was a crazy-fast bludger, hit Miller in the head. From her spot on the air, Lyra could hear a _crack_. She winced.

"Miller down thanks to a well-aimed bludger from Zabini" Roxanne Weasley commented, sounding enterely too pleased "Greengrass has the Quaffle...wait, is that the snitch?".

Lyra stopped mid-air, and so did everyone else around her. It _was_ the snitch, and the seekers were neck to neck after it.

 _Came on,_ Lyra though, watching her sister's friend, a scrawny fourth year named Leah Pucey, speed towards the floor, her right arm stretched in front of her _Came on._

They were about to crash. The whole pitch seemed to be holding their breaths. If they catched the snitch, it would be one of the shortest games ever, if they didn't... well, likely at least one of the seekers will hit the gorund.

Suddenly, Pucey seemed to jerk on her broom, and her body jolted forward.

She caught the snitch.

Roxanne Weasley was the first to recover.

"Pucey's got the snitch!" she shouted throughbthe speakers "This is it folks! Slytherin's won the game! Snakes add point to their house and the rest of us can go enjoy a wondeful day at Hogsmeade!".

Lyra was grinning like and idiot, she could tell, but so was everyone else in the Slytherin's locker room. And when Scorpious finally arrived, Troy and Graham even lifted him on their shoulders. As soon as he got down, he hugged Pucey, which was terribly out of character for him, but nobody seemed to notice the oddity of it but poor Leah, who turned bright red from head to toe when her handsome captain embraced her.

By the time she got back into her regular clothes, freshly showered, Lyra was smiling so widely she feared her face woild break. This, she thought, is why people become so obsessed with Quidditch.

"Hey Lyra" Darrin Flint said, sitting on the bench where she was knotting her shoes "It was a great game today".

Lyra simply nodded. Since she had joined the team, Flint had begun to show a constant interest in her, which in all honestly crept her out a bit. He was built like a troll and therefore was a good keeper, but it seemed to be his only quality, as she found him particularly unattractive and too bulky for her liking. In addition, he never seemed to have anything interesting (or remotely clever for that matter) to say.

Lyra had the feeling he would suffocate her to death without even realizing what he was doing.

"So..." he started to say, looking at her rather hungrily. She panicked.

"Sorry, Flint. I have to go" she blurted, grabbing her bag.

"Go where?" he frowned.

"Hogsmeade".

"But Malfoy is still here" Flint said, getting up.

Lyra practically run to the door. "I'm not going with him today. But they are waiting for me so..."

And with that, she bolted.

"Who are you running away from?" a voice asked from her left, and she stopped to face Liam Wood. Twice in less than a week, she thought, just my luck.

"I'm not running away" she informed him " This is my normal pace".

"Oh, okay then. And has your normal pace always matched that of a pack of running hippogriffs?"

"It's a rare condition" she said, and the smile he sent her looked almost as pained as hers had been.

"Nice game by the way" he said, starting to walk next to her "Although you didn't get to play much".

"Am I supposed to take thatbas a compliment?".

"Not really" he shrugged "Just an honest observation. And here's another, you need to work on you passes".

"What?".  
"You lean sightly towards the side you are about to pass the Quaffle to" he explained in a bored voice, as if Lyra was a particularly dim five year old. "I noticed it from the bleachers".

"For Morgana's shake. What are you, stalking me?".

Wood snorted, unsuccessfully trying to flip his black hair out of his eyes. Which Lyra guessed to mean _No, I'm not stalking you Nott._

"Well, as fun as it is to chat with you, Wood..."

"Nott" he interrupted her "Flint is coming this way, and he does not look happy. I don't suppose your _normal_ _pace_ had anything to do with him?".

Lyra winced.

"I have it all under control".

"Really? Because it doesn't look like he's gotten the message" Wood said, in his most perfectioned Head Boy voice "Honestly, if you don't like a guy you should just tell him to back the fuck off".

"Okay then" she answered, turning to look him directly in the eyes "Please, _back the fuck off"._

He looked so surprised he stopped moving at once, and Lyra took the opportunity to start to walk away.

She was still close enough, however, to hear his deep, genuine laugh at her back.

 _(Let's talk fate)_

Destiny, James Potter knew, worked in most unsuspected ways. Things like someone calling you one morning when you're about to leave and you avoiding being hit by a bus on your way to work, or you feeling the inexplicable urge to get a Fortescue ice-cream in the middle of a snow storm and meeting the love of your life. Or being born on July 31th instead of on the first of August, like you were supposed to, and therefore becoming the chosed savior of the Wizardy World.

In James's case, he had not only got both his names from two of the most notorious troublemakers that had ever set foot in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he had also inherited the hability of said boys to land himself in trouble. Furthermore, he had been born in the Weasley family, where his natural abilities for mischief making, rule-breaking and generaly drive everyone around him crazy were appropriately nourished by his Uncle George and an endless stock of Weasley Wizard Wheezes supplies.

It was no wonder, really, that he managed to land himself in trouble even before he reached Hogwarts, when he and Freddy had decided setting off several Bombastic Bombs in the Hogwarts Express was a fantastic way of inaugurating their sixth year.

It could have been a glorious prank, indeed, or at least one of their most beautiful works. Could have. Because fate, as usual, had other plans.

And so, that's how James Potter found himself walking straight into a prefect with his hands full of (banned) explosive fireworks.

If it had been any other prefect - except maybe for a Slytherin one, because the entire house tended to not be able to see the fun on James's jokes, even though they were often on the receiving end of one - he could have easily convinced them to turn a blind eye and let him do his thing, but because fate had decided to be completely against James that morning, the prefect happened to be Lizzy Hathaway, who was not willing to even blink.

"Those" she said, extending her open palm "Are banned".

If James caught the seriousness of he tone, he decided to ignore it as soon as he saw the Hufflepuff badge on the girl's robes. Hufflepuffs never really give him a hard time, maybe because they were all truly nice, maybe because Teddy Lupin had been the Head Boy during James's first year and his entire house had simply decided to follow his lead and have a soft spot for James.

"It's okay" he had told the girl "I'm not going to get anywhere close to the engine, or the teacher's compartments, or the trolley lady".

The girl, had not looked impressed.

"Of course you are not" she had replied coolly "Because I'm confiscating all those explosives".

"What?" James had (and he was not proud of this) shrieked, hugging his fireworks closer "This are my supplies for the whole term. Do you even realize how much all of this costs?"

"A lot, I'm guessing"

Liz had sighed loudly, and James had relaxed, thinking she had given up. To his surprise she snatched the Bombastic Bombs from his arms with a firm tug.

"Hey!".

"I'm not happy about this either Potter".

"That's bullying!"

"Please, I'm anywhere near the bullying stage".

But unfortunately for Liz, James's cries had gotten the Head Boy, a Ravenclaw seveth year named Noel Carter, attention. And it was unfortunate because Noel Carter happened to had a deep crush on James's cousin Dominique, who was the Head Girl. On less than a minute, he had decided that the fireworks would be confiscated, but just for the duration of the train ride.

Which, in the end, meant that James could keep the Bombastic Bombs.

He also learned that the girl, whose name was Liz Hathaway, was only a Fifth year, and therefore, not to be taken seriously either as a threat or as a prefect. It seemed that fate, after all, was on James's favor.

Liz all but huffed, she was severely disappointed when smoke didn't come out.

James smirked smugly, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms behind his head. If he hadn't been so focused on looking as nonchalant as he could, he wouldn't have missed the look of livid rage that crossed Liz's face, but he did. Liz leaned forward and with a well aimed kick she threw open the door that was actually supporting James.

He fell ass-first onto the floor of his family compartment.

And for the first time (and it won't be the last), James Potter realized how beautiful Liz Hathaway was.

"Wait" he had yelled, ignoring his cousins laughs and scattering to get up and follow her down the corridor "Hey wait!".

The expression she wore when she finally turned around had looked remarkably like the one Aunt Hermione 's when she had heard one too many of Uncle George's ideas.

"Yes?".

"Do you want to go out with me? Sometime?".

She hadn't even dignified it with a response, turning away muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _bloody prat_ under her breath.

But James was not his mother's son for nothing. He had never known when to give up when he believed something was meant to happen. So he didn't. And after so many times hearing Liz say _no_ to him, he could recognize her voice anywhere, even in the middle of the crowded Hogsmeade's Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

"Don't think about it as Slytherin winning" Hugo was telling him "Think about Tracy Miller loosing".

They were on the back of the shop, James classifying products and Hugo sitting on the top od a bunch of boxes,meating his weight in candy from Honeyduke's and narrating the Quidditch game.

"Excuse me?" a voice ringed from the shop, close to the counter, and James's heart skipped a beat "Can you help us?".

"Of course" they could hear Freddie saying "I'll be with you in a second".

"Thank you" Liz replied, and James could just tell she was smiling.

"Uncle George!" he exclaimed, cutting off something Hugo was saying and leaning over the stairs to the second floor office "Uncle George!".

"Where's the fire kid?" his uncle head appeared on the top of the stairs.

"Can I go help at the front?"

"No".

"What? Why not?" he demanded.

"Because Freddie is worthless at organizing anything" George said "he's useless back here".

"I'll be back in a second" James promised "he won't need to help here. Come on, Uncle George, do it for your favorite nephew".

Uncle George snorted.

"I have a bunch of nephews, you are not even a Weasley. And-" he paused dramatically for a second "You let your little sister win at the prank war".

"Lily got Uncle Percy as a target!" James exclaimed forcefully "I got my mum! How was I supposed to prank my mum and keep all my limbs attached?".

"Ah, young Potter" George nodded "You make a fair point indeed. Off you go then, attend to your lovely lady".

"What lady?" Hugo asked, suddenly more interested in the conversation than in his chocolate frogs.

But James was already moving and he ignored his cousin, opening the door behind the counter and stepping into the shop.

Liz was leaning against the pygmy puffs display, letting them sniff her hand and cautiously rub against it.

"Lizzy" a male voice said behind her. Startled, she let a puff fall from her hand.

When she turned around, James Potter was smiling at her. If she had had something else in her hands, she would have dropped that too.

He looked exactly like he had the last time she had seen him, on his graduation day. Of course, it had only been three months ago, but for some reason Liz had expected him to change now that he was out in the world of grown ups. Then again, she should have known James Potter wouldn't grow up at all if he could help it.

"Hi" she replied after a bit too long "What are you doing here?".

"I work here" James replied, and he unconsciously messed up his hair with one hand.

"At the joke shop?" Liz said, fighting the urge to snap his hands away from his own hair, because what did she care if he decided to look like he had never seen a hairbrush in his life? "I thought you got in Auror training".

"I did" James replied. And something in the tone of his voice, surprisingly serious and grave, told Liz to leave it alone.

"So" she tried, suddenly awkward "Freddy is helping my friend Margo find some things. It must be nice, working with your best friend".

"It is" he grinned "Except for when he blows something up on the lab and I have to clean up the mess".

Liz blinked, not sure how to respond to that piece of information. The idea of James Potter cleaning up somebody else's mess sounded particularly insane.

"Al told me you are the Head Girl by the way, congratulations".

"Thank you" Liz said, looking down to where her badge would have been if she had been wearing her school robes "I was sure your cousin Rose was gonna get it, in all honestly".

"You are working with her, right? For the War thing".

"The War thing is actually a really important project" Liz scolded "But yes, I'm working with Rose. We were supposed to get together yesterday, but Lyra Nott had to cancel because of training, apparently Malfoy is as much of a Quidditch-nazi as you were".

James frowned at her.

"I seriously doubt Malfoy, of all people, can live up to my legend on the pitch".

"And yet he won today" Liz grinned. There was something about reminding James Potter not everyone had as good opinion of him as he did that made Liz oddly satisfied.

"Liz!" Margo yelled, suddenly appearing between the crowd and waving at her from her spot next to the door "We can leave now!".

Liz turned to James and he shrugged.

"So, I'll see you around" he told her.

"I suppose so" she said, moving her bangs out of her eyes "I mean if you are going to be here and not in London like I thought..." she paused, cursing herself for bringing the Auror topic again. It felt like James had closed a door somewhere inside him, his trademark grin disappearing and his face, always so cheerful, awfully serious.

She wondered what had gone wrong with the aurors. James had always been top of his Defense class (and she knew this not because she cared, but because everyone liked to gossip about the great James Potter archievements) and his father was Head of the department, so his troubles with authority should have been effectively cut short.

"I'll see you around" Liz repeated finally.

She couldn't help but smile back at him, relieved when he started to grin again.

 _It's a bad idea._ A voice, that sounded remarkably like Rosie's, said in the back of James' head. But he had never been good at listening to either his conscience or the real Rose, so he followed Lizzy on her way out anyway.

"Hey" he said when he matched her step "Next weekend you can come to Hogsmeade again, right? So, how about a date?".

For the first time ever, Liz didn't feel the need to strangle Potter when he asked her out, instead, she felt the corner of her mouth star to turn upwards on their own accord.

"Forget it" she said.

But she knew he wouldn't, and she wasn't sure that was a bad thing.

.


End file.
